Changes to Microsoft’s app store are adding pressure on Apple

Microsoft shook up the PC gaming industry this week by announcing that it was Reduce the fees you get for game sales in the Windows Store. At first glance, it’s a welcome move, as Microsoft matches Epic Games’ 12 percent rebate and adds pressure on Valve, which still gets a 30 percent discount on most Steam purchases. But the cut is also a tactical move: Microsoft wants to help squeeze Apple in, and this week’s changes may play a role in the App Store’s biggest battles starting next week.

Microsoft’s announcement comes a few days before the launch of the Great test between Epic Games and AppleAnd, like the European Union, it has encountered problems with Apple’s rules, claiming that the company has a “dominant position in the market for distributing music streaming applications through the App Store.” Microsoft quietly supports Epic Games’ action against Apple and is quietly calling on regulators to investigate the App Store. If any of the efforts are successful, it will directly benefit Microsoft’s software business, as well as its ambitions for cloud gaming.

Epic founder Tim Sweeney has a long history with Microsoft and his interests were recently aligned. Sweeney Famously criticized In Microsoft’s efforts to control the Windows software ecosystem through its Store and the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) initiative. Since then, Microsoft has moved far away from this and seen the company’s more open model of HoloLens. Sweeney takes the stage With the software maker and a commitment to support Epic Games for Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Headsets.

Apple’s App Store, which is at the center of current demand, has been a particularly sore spot for Microsoft. After losing with iOS and Android by extension Windows Phone effortsMicrosoft has fought its own battles against Apple’s App Store for years. distance A hit in the app store With the changes to the Windows Store policy last year, Microsoft will take every opportunity to help collect favorable rates, especially if the time is right. The software maker tried to release the SkyDrive app (now OneDrive) for iPhones in 2012, but got a They are fighting a battle With Apple, more than 30 percent reduced revenue from in-app cloud purchases. He she It was a test For a true source of income from Microsoft – Office on iOS.

Microsoft is also struggling to launch its xCloud game streaming service on iOS, as it wants to keep the 30 percent it makes on game purchases and in-app transactions on cloud versions of Xbox games. Apple still bans services like xCloud or Stadia, and Microsoft had to create a web version to get around the restrictions.

While Microsoft has not filed any formal complaints about Apple, the company’s chief legal officer, Brad Smith, Compliance is reported With the House Antitrust Subcommittee last year to brief the panel on concerns about the App Store and its fees. This was around the same time as Apple Commissioned study That argued that the 30 percent cut was an industry standard. It’s hard to see Microsoft’s PC gaming cut this week and not see it as a timely boost that will help accentuate the contrast between the PC and mobile app stores.

Microsoft’s App Store on Windows isn’t a great revenue engine for the company, and it actually had a 15 percent cutting applications Before these changes in PC games. Games are the most profitable part of any app store, but a lot of game developers currently don’t publish their games on the Windows Store. This causes Microsoft to cut reasonable deals by 12 percent if, or even Epic Games, wants to take advantage of the changes to defend the App Store fixes elsewhere. It also helps develop the Microsoft and Epic Games narrative that computers and smartphones are general-purpose computing platforms with fairer app store models.

Microsoft also announced this rate change, which won’t start until August, without solid promises about optimizing a struggling Windows store. It feels rushed, with no apparent benefit to consumers in major ways, like cheaper games or a repaired store. The fee cut also doesn’t apply to Xbox console games, and it seems the timing is also designed to prepare for future questions on Xbox by 30 percent by positioning the PC differently.

Microsoft previously defended a 30 percent cut in Xbox digital game sales. “Game consoles are specialized devices optimized for a specific use”, Rima Alili dijo, Microsoft Deputy General Counsel, last year. Alaily argues that “the business model for game consoles is very different from the ecosystem around computers or phones,” because Microsoft supports devices and consoles that “far exceed the number of computers and phones on the market.”

But while Microsoft has been more protective of the 30 percent raised on Xbox, Epic Games seems happy to drop it. An Epic Games executive revealed in a lawsuit this week that The company never sought to negotiate With Microsoft to avoid using their Commerce Engine on Xbox. “We are a great source of income for these three platforms [Xbox, PlayStation, Switch]Maybe in the top five, you know, their sources of income, “admits Joe Kranner, vice president of business development for Epic.” So they have an interest in promoting. It is an electronic game. We get a great spot in the store that we don’t have to pay for. “

And the same lawsuit revealed to the court that It is an electronic gameThe cash cow is PlayStationNot iOS, so Epic Games has little incentive to ask where you are getting the most of your money and receiving special marketing offers.

Fortunately, it was announced that the Microsoft PC Store fee was changed at odd times in the same week. The European Union accuses Apple of committing antitrust violations in the App Store. While the European Commission’s announcement on Friday focuses on streaming music apps in the app store, the commission is also investigating additional and separate cases involving e-books and the app store in general.

European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager also revealed that the committee is investigating Apple’s policies on games on the App Store. “We also care about the market for game applications,” said Vestager, in response to a question about the money that game applications contain in the App Store. “These are really the early days when it comes to that.”

Next week’s issue between Epic Games and Apple will begin a battle for the future of the App Store that will last much more than a season in It is an electronic game. The battle lines have been drawn in multiple directions, and Microsoft is sitting on the sidelines hoping that the App Store war will go your way.

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